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The National Communications Agency (Enacom) has granted a DTH license to Interam SRL, a company located in Formosa province, northeast region of Argentina. Initially, the company will invest AR$ 100 million (USD 4.9 million) in equipment. The first trials would begin in three months and the service would be operational in six months.
The person in charge of the project is Juan Honofre Amarilla, member of Amacom Media group and former founding partner of the newspaper El Comercial. The executive gave details of this initiative in an interview with Radio Uno (which is part of its media group). “We’re going to reach people in the most remote places, those who do not have access to cable or free-to-air television; with a low-cost service,” he said. The DTH system will have its teleport in Formosa. The license was granted for a period of 10 years.
The service will include “local channels that will be available throughout the country, and based on the proximity, there will be signals from Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile.”
Currently, only DirecTV and InTV operate DTH in Argentina. “DirecTV has about 3 million subscribers, we aim to have 10% of that number, which would be a great achievement,” Amarilla said. The executive stressed the need to join forces with the small cable operators “because otherwise, Claro, Movistar and DirecTV and will take everything”.
Meanwhile, telecommunications companies await approval to provide DTH in the country. Last February, the Minister of Modernization, Andrés Ibarra, said that the government was working on a law that would include authorization for telcos to offer DTH. For several months, rumors indicated that this approval would come through a decree of necessity and urgency (DNU in Spanish).
According to Enacom’s resolution, Juan Honofre Amarilla is the majority shareholder of Interam with 70% stake; Jorge Manuel Saldivar Benitez owns 15% and Martín Ignacio Amarilla Venturini the remaining 15%.

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